Akademiska Hus invests millions in Lund
Monday, 4 May 2020
Akademiska Hus is investing about SEK 820 million in a new building at Lund University. The new Forum Medicum will provide colocation of education and research in medicine and the health sciences and will be an important component in the future development of the Faculty of Medicine. The construction project is one of the largest initiatives that the University and Akademiska Hus have ever carried out together.
The new Forum Medicum will have approximately 16,000 square metres and involves an addition to and renovation of the Biomedical Centre (BMC) on Sölvegatan in Lund. The purpose of the new building is to meet the needs of the Faculty of Medicine for modern facilities for education, research and offices, as well as to harness valuable opportunities for new collaborative opportunities between the Faculty’s programmes in medicine, nursing and health sciences. The Forum Medicum will also contribute to the desired densification of the urban environment along Sölvegatan and to the development of the “Kunskapsstråket” (“Science Road”) in Lund.
“Forum Medicum is an exciting project in many ways. The new building will provide a cohesive medical and health science knowledge centre that meets future needs for flexible, activity-based environments for research and education. At the same time, we will make the entire building and the location at Sölvegatan more open and more inviting to all Lund residents,” says Åsa Henninge, Market Area Director at Akademiska Hus.
The renovation involves three buildings and contains one of the larger challenges in the project – docking to the existing BMC complex and an addition. The addition will have public spaces on the ground floor and five floors for classrooms and offices, as well as a small retracted penthouse. With a café or restaurant and lobbies in different directions, a welcoming environment is created for students on the way to a lecture, employees heading for work, or individuals who just need a cup of coffee. The planning has focused heavily on flexibility for offices and classrooms so they can easily be used and modified, based on the various needs of the centre of education.
“We are excited that construction of Forum Medicum can finally begin. Our vision of a building where medicine and the health sciences are joined will finally be realised. We will also strengthen research in the health sciences, which will have access to state of the art facilities in Forum Medicum,” says Erik Renström, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
Forum Medicum was designed by Henning Larsen Architects, the winner of a parallel drawing assignment in 2015. Construction is planned to begin in May 2020, with occupancy in early summer 2023.